Duty can’t be dispensed by denial

Over a span of 10 days, 12 persons were picked up reportedly by plainclothesmen from different districts in the country, according to a report in Friday’s Prothom Alo. The families said they were picked up by persons claiming to be members of the police or detective police, carrying firearms and using microbuses and motorbikes without licence plates.In all instances, the local police and detective branch denied involvement in the incidents. In the case of four being picked up in Naogaon did they say, four days later, that the persons were arrested in connection with a case in Magura.Allegations of law enforcement persons picking up persons in such a manner are nothing new. Nor is their denial. This has become a regular occurrence in Bangladesh which has also caught international attention. On Tuesday the United National Human Rights Committee expressed its concern over the high rate of extrajudicial killings and abductions by the police, RAB and the security forces in Bangladesh.The law enforcement agencies always deny these allegations and say they know nothing about these incidents. They cannot shirk their responsibilities like this. It is the responsibility of the law enforcement to find the missing persons, return them to their families, find their abductors and bring them to justice. But they simply dispense of their duties by denying the allegations.What happens to the majority of those picked up? An example appeared in Prothom Alo on Friday. On Wednesday a resident of Chandanpura in Chittagong city and assistant general secretary of Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal, Nurul Alam, was picked up from his home by persons claiming to be the police. On Thursday afternoon his bullet-ridden dead body was found in Raozan near the river Karnaphuli.Such incidents are also nothing new. People being picked by persons claiming to be members of the law enforcement, their dead bodies turning up, and mysterious disappearances, have all become regular occurrences. This has become a national problem of both public safety and human rights. Denial and turning a blind eye is not a sign of responsibility. This problem must be faced with proper implementation of the law.This is the responsibility of the state, that is, of the government.